Automotive traction control methods are known generally for reducing sensed or estimated slip in the driven wheels of an automotive vehicle during positive torque driving maneuvers, through a controlled reduction in engine output torque. The reduction is commonly made through fuel cutoff to certain cylinders of the engine, through braking of the driven wheels, or through adjustment to the throttle which controls air inlet to the engine. Fuel cutoff may not provide for smooth traction control in certain conventional fuel injection systems, such as throttle body injection systems or simultaneous multipoint injection systems. Brake control can require significant additional hardware to provide automatic braking, and may not provide smooth traction control. Throttle control can add significant cost to the vehicle to provide a means to override a mechanically-positioned throttle valve.
To overcome the shortcomings of these conventional traction control approaches, an integrated approach has been proposed, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,693, assigned to the assignee of this invention, in which traction control in an automotive vehicle having an automatic transmission is provided including a control of transmission position. Such integrated control provides for smooth, low cost, and simple traction control in vehicles having automatic transmissions. However, the advantages of such an integrated approach are not applicable to the large number of automotive vehicles having manual transmissions.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide the benefits of an integrated traction control approach applicable to Vehicles with manual transmissions or, to vehicles regardless of the type of transmission used thereby.